Instagram has become a new hub for e-commerce, with many brands and retailers looking to make sales by promoting products on the app.

CREDIT: Karly Domb Sadof/Shutterstock

Mobile is the fastest-growing sector of retail, with many younger shoppers turning to Instagram for style cues and product recommendations. To capitalize on this burgeoning market, Salesfloor has launched SocialShop, a feature that allows customers to purchase product through sales associates’ Instagram feeds.

Once the SocialShop feature is enabled, a unique page is generated for each associate that displays all their shoppable Instagram posts in one place. By linking to this page in their Instagram bio, sales associates can share product posts directly with customers on their feed and then receive credit for the sale if the consumer clicks through to SocialShop. Store associates can either connect their personal Instagram account or their company-mandated professional account as introduced at Salesfloor partner Neiman Marcus.

“SocialShop is the solution we’ve been looking for to empower our associates to create shoppable Instagram posts,” said Elizabeth Gleason, director of online experience and service at Neiman Marcus. “We’re proud to partner with Salesfloor in helping to innovate the social selling space for our brand ambassadors and excited to have already seen strong results since launching the new feature.”

SocialShop joins a suite of clienteling tools in the Salesfloor platform. Alongside this new feature are tools that enable shoppers to communicate with associates in real time while browsing the website, schedule in-store appointments, receive personalized look books and reserve products.

As consumers increasingly look for curated, customized experiences, retailers are similarly seeking out opportunities to build relationships with them. Through informed and dynamic sales service, stores are able to differentiate their shopping experience from their competitors. By continuing this customer dialog on the app post-visit, associates can keep that mobile sales channel open and foster brand loyalty.

“Thirty percent of online shoppers say they are likely to make a purchase from a social media network like Facebook, Pinterest, Instagram, Twitter and Snapchat,” said Oscar Sachs, CEO and co-founder of Salesfloor. “This represents a huge opportunity to leverage associates’ connections and convert social media networks into a sales platform. This is an exciting new feature that was inspired from our partnership with our clients.”